What's more "future proof" Judo or Muay Thai?

Both kinda tear up the body. I think judo more so, I’ve never been more injured in martial arts than doing it. And I’ve seen middle aged dudes hurt themselves and have to stay off the mat for weeks.

You can do old man judo, there’s even old man competitions in judo.
There’s no old man thai bouts.

So if future is into your 40s it’s either. If you mean late 50s, then judo is the poi t

I started muay thai at 30, I'm 44 now. Still going strong. I've only stopped for injuries. 4-2 amateur record. Now I help a friend of mine teach at his gym. I still spar regularly with kids half my age.I'm going to Thailand later this year to have a what's most likely my last fight. I have no intentions on stopping anytime soon. I have friends older than me that are still going. So I don't know why you'd think you can't do muay thai for a long time

37, soon to be 38. Judo is waaaay harder on the body than MT.
I joke that I offically became "too old for judo" two years ago, but I still have no issues doing MT. Even BJJ - which is much gentler than judo - leaves me with more wear and tear than MT does.

Fit, still training 54 year old here, never refer to yourself as old or you will be old.

You’re looking for bjj, my dude.

Brother, I’m 36. That shit isn't old. I will say I do BJJ and Muay Thai. I find Muay Thai to be less rough on the body unless you like to throw some hammer, and it's just as rough as grappling art

Can’t comment on MT, no experience. Judo is still my go to at age 71, every week since age 13. I have slowed down after my second stroke. No more randori, just uchikomi, kata and teaching 20 school children. Good luck🥋

My gut says Muay Thai especially if you're a really grindy clinch fighter. As for grappling I feel like you should look more at BJJ, they have a masters division for practioners older than 40

That depends on what you mean by "future proof".

If your talking about as a career, than teaching is more future proof. As you get older, your athletic abilities will go down, but your knowledge will still be there. The martial art you choose could be either of them.

If your talking about as a student, then learning a martial art means you already learned it. Noone can force you to unlearn a martial art. So for that, it's really up to you to choose which one you want (or just learn both).

If your talking about more likely to protect you in a self defense situation, I guess Muay Thai is more well rounded compared to judo. But learning both would be even better.

If your talking about street fights, then working for a hospital is more future proof.

At 35 if you're relatively healthy you've got a couple years of good judo in you. It makes demands on your body but nothing beats throwing a human being into a plant. I would recommend cross-training in muy thai, boxing, or escrima/kali jkd.

You’re 35 why are you calling yourself old?

Tai chi

Any throw grappling art is very taxing on the body, just go to MT. But try both, there are older divisions in judo

35? Your still a young man

BJJ could scare away those who are worried about potential lower back problems

All martial arts will do damage to the body especially if you spar, even light sparring sometimes bad shit happen when you or your opponent is tired

Did this fucker say "older" is 35?

Judo is good for a long time.

Are we talking apocalypse or just old age? I've worked with elderly people before and I have to say, whatever you do, work on balance and how to fall properly.

It seems like Judo may work better when you are old but I really don't know

Dude you’re not even old. 45+ is old. Lol. Especially if you are athletic or in shape. Do what you want.

I'm 43 and only started Muay Thai 1.5 years ago. If you're not looking to fight, you'll be ok. Spar with people in your level and you'll be ok. I highly recommend doing functional and mobility training alongside to really help strengthen and condition your body. Foam roll and stretch, do active recovery like swimming and biking.. you'll be fine.

If you just want to stay in shape and spar the boys in the gym, I would say Muay Thai by a mile.

Judo I would imagine takes a larger toll

You make it sound like we're over the hill at 35.

Anyway I'd go for whichever one you enjoy more. You're bound to get injured regardless of style, so may as well stick to the one that'll keep you coming back for more (fun and injuries).

On the back half of my 40s, and I was using Judo as a way to get additional exercise as I don't get as much while teaching my main art. I entered my first tournament last summer, and had fun getting soundly beat by the other guy in my age and weight division. Unfortunately, about 6 months ago, I dislocated my knee during randori and ended up tearing my MPFL (medial patellar femoral ligament) and took a chunk of patella with it. At least I got the ippon - LOL.

Everything about this injury has been inconvenient. There were lots of hoops to jump through to get the insurance approvals for surgery (xrays, MRI, specialist, surgeons). I couldn't drive for a month after surgery, which really hurt my ability to do things like taking kids to activities or running errands, and also resulted in hundreds in Uber costs just to get to physical therapy and doctors appointments. My recovery has been good for my age, but getting range of motion and strength back to what is was has been a long, slow process. I still can't quite do many of the stances and motions used for pencak silat that used to come very naturally, and trying to do them is still painful.

Given all this, I've made the tough decision to fade away from Judo as another injury on this scale is a setback not just to me, but my whole family. As much as I enjoy the training, the unpredictable, explosive nature of the sport isn't a risk I can take on at this stage of my life.

That said, it could be that this was more of a fluke accident than anything else. My randori partner didn't crash into or land on me. My knee just buckled right as I finished the throw. Plus there's a big difference between 35 and 45, and if you learn younger, a lot of the unpredictability may go away.

Muay thai for sure .

Lifting + Any sort of grappling

At a certain age you need to lift to make yourself less prone to injuries

35 is an older gentleman these days??? I just turned 36 today.

Muay thai is very body-friendly if practiced correctly. Bjj feels like my joints are gettin rolled by a car,

And judo is i think harder on your body than bjj

Judo. The older we get and the more force multipliers we can practice, the better.

M16

Muay Thai has a shorter learning curve overall.

Jūdō you’ll be matched up according to your rank.

Either way you can be competitive in both. Both can be pretty rough on the body though.

If you're just looking to train, muay thai will be way easier on the body.

If you are looking to compete, then judo will be way easier on the body.

Maybe a good way to answer the this question would be to post something like “have you met an old judo instructor with completely functioning limbs?” And then do the same for Muay Thai.

You can spar light and technical in Muay Thai and practice shadowboxing and pad/bag work more or less indefinitely. There are definitely plenty of old kickboxers still around who continue teaching and training. Since you're more experienced in Muay Thai, you'll also better know how to avoid injuring yourself.

I don't know if there's such a thing as light contact Judo.

You are 35. Relax, you can do both for a while

I do Muay Thai after I have gotten too old and worn for Judo.

54 this year and have been doing MT since late 90s. Spa light and technical for longevity but you are still in your prime. You are only 35 . Come back and ask this question in 20 years..

Muay Thai is safer from a training standpoint.

Judo is more rough on joints, MT is more rough on the brain. MT relies a lot more on speed and as speed falls with age there’s no real adjustment to compensate well with like all most sports. Judo is going to give you a little more leeway here. It’s probably going to be harder to find opponents to fight in MT unless you don’t mind the larger age gap.

All in all, do jiujitsu instead. More competition, less falling on your face, more longevity. Your joints are gonna get hurt but it wins all the other factors. Just do proper physical therapy when it happens.

First off all, you're a dick for describing yourself as an older gentleman when you are only 35 🤣

At it’s core Judo is about performing throws, or rather controlling the center of gravity, while Muay Thai is heavily focused on strikes. Strikes are going to really suck in old age. Your bones are weaker and a lot of older folks have arthritis, carpal tunnel, or some other nerve pain. Much longer recovery times too. You could say the same is true for judo, especially because throwing someone causes a lot of trauma, but with judo, you can dial back the intensity easily. You probably want to avoid actually sparring and practice forms/katas (whatever they’re called) more. Maybe you replace your 50lb sandbag with a 20lb bag. I don’t see what you can do with Muay Thai to make it safer. The hip strength and flexibility is invaluable as long as you don’t overdo it.

Judo teaches you to fall safely. It's ideal for an oldie that doesn't want to break a hip.

Both styles are going to be pretty hard on your body, just in different ways. It's almost like fighting is dangerous. I definitely don't want to turn you off from martial arts, or even fighting. But you need to be aware of the risks. At 30, with 2 decades of martial arts experience, I don't see myself fighting again. I wasn't dedicated and or skilled enough to make a career out of fighting, and have a permanently dislocated shoulder, 3 concussions, misshaped knuckles, and a shitty memory for my trouble.

So between the two you mentioned, they are both going to be pretty rough on you if you compete.

Do you want a shitty back? Try Judo.

Do you want no memories and possibly CTE? Try Muay Thai.

If you are truly looking for something less long term damaging, that is still competitive, I'd look at, certain karate systems, or Brazilian jiujitsu

Why those?

Karate isn't unified in their competitive rules. Some are full contact kickboxing like Muay Thai. Some are touch tag. Some don't compete. ... I personally would look for a school that competes in what's called "continuous sparring" which is basically competitive light contact fighting. It's kickboxing that has much less risk for getting knocked out.

Brazilian jiujitsu comes from Judo, but with a much stronger focus on the ground, and no rules for ippon victories, you'll much less likely to get slammed into the earth at full speed.

What do you do for a living? If u get hurt do you get paid while it sick? Working is more important than hobbies.

From what I've seen and heard, there are more old competitive grapplers out there than old strikers. As they age, strikers tend to focus on drills and less on competition, if they do it as they age. Go watch some age divided competitions in each sport and see how the competitors look and compete with each other. I would argue that you should see what martial arts schools in your area are like regardless of style and find one that meets your needs. There are all kinds of martial arts competitions out there, everything from MMA tournaments to forms competitions. It's good to know how to fight regardless of your age, but retaining your physical capabilities is more important. A sport that damages your body is not really worth it, if it wrecks your capabilities later.

Must Thai is really destructive to win, while in judo we look after each other, try not to hurt but still win. This difference is huge. Still a lot of building muscularity around both arts, just do 3 months of each then decide

You can't practice muay thai when older. As in, get involved in real drills, real sparring. And muay thai relies on you being hardened to the point where you can walk straight through punches and kicks.

That's how I see it at least. Muay thai makes you a tank.

If not, then you're kickboxing. A totally different sport closer to tae kwon do if you ask me.

If you intend to punch air, that's not muay thai and it won't prepare you for a real fight.

I'm 43 and couldn't imagine going back to muay thai. No way jose.

I never did judo but am preparing to join a club in fall. I generally had a change of heart and now I think that law enforcement, including bouncers, has the most accomplished street fighters. They use grabs, locks and throws.

There's your answer, I think.

Note, I never did judo.

I’m 58yo. I currently train both Muay Thai and BJJ, we do a lot of Judo takedowns and a few of the guys are Judo black belts. Honestly my biggest concern in training is accidentally getting taken down in a way that I get a serious injury. What turns a healthy 60yo into a not healthy 60yo is a serious fall. Falls are one of the leading causes of serious debilitating injury in older folks. I am always very careful when training takedowns.

Weight training is one of the best ways to mitigate training risk as an older person. Our bodies start to lose muscle mass in early middle age, this is why old people can have balance and mobility issues. Weight training gives muscle mass that can mitigate injuries but also improves speed, mobility, and balance.

Striking learn striking. It has more longevity and is the more proven way then judo/grappling to beat someone bihher/stronger. Also look at mma and ufc striking is pretty much the king of mma in the past decade+

They’re both literally already outdated. But still cool and useful. Like a 60’s muscle car.

Both hard on the body. Depends exactly how and where you train which is easier long term. So really it’s on you and your team more than the actual style and content.

Muay Thai training can be really technical and gentle, but it can also be very rough and abusive. Even still sin pads hitting you isn’t as bad as the ground hitting you in most cases, unless you focus more on ground work and have a nice subfloor to train on, or if you’re the one doing the throwing and not being put into the floor a whole lot you can do it forever as many judo masters seem to🫡